TAVISTOCK College GCSE students are celebrating after gaining the results they need to take A levels at the school's sixth form.

The 15 and 16-year-olds studied for exams in 37 subjects, with 19 of those courses recording 100% pass rates.

Assistant director of sixth form Pete Keegan said: 'There have been some fantastic results from some very talented students. It is clear they have worked extremely hard and should be very proud of their achievement. '

A total of 42 students achieved at least five A*s or As, with Lottie Allen, Lizzie Clarkson, Beni Evans, Lara Hopkins, Katy Hyde, Hannah Keane, Elsie Kirby, Yasmine Rich and Ciaran Stoker all gaining ten or more.

Jack Glover and Ed Longden both worked extremely hard to secure straight A*s and As.

Ed, with eight A*s and four As, said: 'I did a lot of work but it seems to have paid off and I'm coming back to Tavistock to do history, Japanese, maths and English literature. I would like to study law at university and maybe become a barrister.'

Jack gained five A*s and five As and was also very happy with his results. He said: 'I'm going to do chemistry, physics, maths, further maths and sports studies. I've got a university course in mind: sports technology at Loughborough, which needs AAB at A level.'

In line with the national picture, girls out-performed boys with 57% of females achieving at least five A* to C grades including English and maths, while the percentage for both boys and girls was 48%. A total of 57% of students gained at least five Cs in any subject.

Japanese students all passed their GCSE with 20% securing an A* and 26% an A — many will stay on to take the language at A level.

Lizzie Clarkson achieved three A*s, five As, two Bs and an E and will now study Japanese alongside English language, English literature, history and sociology, while Beni Evans, with six A*s, four As and a B, will combine the language with English literature, performance studies and Buddhism and philosophy.

'I'm very pleased and very surprised; I didn't expect the results,' he said.

GCSE maths results rose from 59% gaining at least a C last year to 65% this year, and 98.5% of students passed with an A* to G.

English language saw 99.6% achieve at least a G, while English literature was at 99.1%.

Kirsten Smith said she was overwhelmed after achieving an A*, eight As, a B and a D.

Beth Neave, who achieved six As, two Bs and two Cs, said: 'I'm so happy. It's brilliant; I'm going to do sports studies, English language, media studies, sociology and law.

'I would maybe like to go into the navy but I'm keeping my options open doing subjects I like.'

Helen Salmon, who takes over as acting principal in September, said she was confident the changes to the curriculum and new systems would result in a rapid improvement of GCSE results next year.

'Tavistock College has many strengths and there is the capacity for it to become an outstanding school in the future,' she added.

Students at Kelly College are celebrating their GCSE results with an overall pass rate of 94.1% and this year's GCSE grades show that 45.6% of GCSEs were at A* and A grades.

Some of the outstanding results included Freya Semken, with 9.5 A*; Harry Coulton, 7.5 A* and 2 A grades; Charlotte Chamberlain, 7.5 A* and 2 A grades; Sam Lindsey with 6.5 A* and 3 A grades and Anna Court with 4 A* and 5 A grades.

Headmaster Dr Graham Hawley, said: 'Our pupils have worked very hard and earned these results.

'Our teachers will be so delighted that all their pupils have been rewarded with these grades.'